Adjustable shelf.



UNITED -"PA T OFFICE.

BYRON I J. WHITCOMB, OF KENN EBUNK, MAINE.

IADJUSTABLE SHELF.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 23, 1906. 7

Application filed November 4, 1905. Serial No. 285,854.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BYRON J. WHITGOMB, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kennebunk, in the county of York and State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved Adjustable Shelf, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

.This invention relates to means for detachably securing a shelf on the easement of a vhereinafter described and indicated in the .subjoined claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved shelf. Fig. 2 is an enlarged reversed plan view of a shelf having details of the invention thereon and shown broken away at one end. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 3 ,3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view substantially on the line 4 4 in-Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a side view showing a modifiedconstruction of a portion of the improved attaching means for the shelf.

. Inthe drawings, 6 indicates a shelf-board having a mainly rectangular marginal form, preferably constructed of wood of suitable width and length for effective service. A right angular notch or is formed at each end of the shelf-board 6, removing the corners thereof. on the edge and ends of the board that are disposed nearest to the window sash when the shelf is in position at a windowgr-the notches then. receiving correspondingstile's of the window-casement, thus permitting the I ortion 6 oftheshelf-board having reduced ength to fit loosely between the stiles, and as such a position for the shelf-board is obvious the illustration of its application-ills ioniitted from the'drawings. .I. i

Near .each end of..the'.main..portion-ofthe shelf-board 6 and upon the lower side thereof i a bracket-leg 7 is mounted, preferably by ,means that 'will be hereinafter described.

Each bracket-leg 7 is of conventional form, consisting of a flat-sided block essentially triangular in contour having two of the edges thereof disposed at a right angle to each otheil', the other edge having ogee form, as us'ea At a suitable point near each endof the main portion 6 of the shelf a groove is formed in its lower side, these grooves having equal depth and being flat-bottomed, and in each groove a facing-strip b, of strap-iron or the 7 like, is embedded and secured.

' Upon the normally upper straight edge of each bracket-leg 7 a flat plate-metal strip 7 a is secured having greater width than the thickness of the body ofthe leg and projecting equally as a flange at each side ofthe latter. The width of the flange-plate 7 on each bracket-leg is such that it will fit loosely in a respective groove in the shelf-body 6 and may be seated upon the facing-strip b therein.

The preferred means for adjustably securing the bracket-legs '7 in place on the shelfboard 6 consists in providing keeper-screws c,

having washers c mounted thereon and inserting the screws at spaced intervals in the shelf-boardnear a respective groove therein,

so as -to adapt the washers to overlap the side edges of the grooves, and it will'be seen that if the flanges on the edges of the strips 7 are slid beneath the washers by a longitudinal insertion of said strips into the grooves the washers by their contact with the flangeplates 7* will hold the bracket-legs slidably engaged within the respective grooves in the shelf-board 6 and prevent them from downward displacement. i

The facing-strips b each'have aseri'es'of spaced perforations e formedtherein near one side edge thereof, and said perforations are extended 'into the bracketlegwhereon the facing-strip is'secured, as appears-forfone leg andfacing-strip in Fig. 3. Aresilient locking-dog 8 is secured one kind and a portion of its body on the' side of a respective bracket-leg 5 7, these dogs being preferably bent from-resilient wire rods," and upon the free end portion of each rod is'b'ent a finger-hold portion '8, from Whichfprojects upwardly a toe '9 through a perforation-ma respective flange onthe adjacent ilate??? into engagement with one of the "a tions e ln-an opposed'strip b, thusloe given to the turnbuckle.

bracket-legs upon the shelf-board in a manner which will permit the convenient release and change in longitudinal adjustment thereof as may be desired.

Upon the portion 6 of the shelf-board 6 two similar pusher-rods 9 are slidably secured by means of clip-plates h, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, whereby they are adapted for reci rocation near the forward edge of the she f. On one end portion of each pusherrod a threaded bolt-body 9 is secured by one end, as shown, or said bolt end may be formed integral with a respective pusher-rod. The bolt-bodies 9 are threaded oppositelythat is, one is cut with a right-hand thread and the other with a left-hand threadand upon said bolt-bodies a turnbuckle 9 is screwed, which by manipulation will extend or retract the pusher-rods in accordance with the direction of rotatable movement Upon the other ends of the pusher-rods 9 a presser-foot is rockably mounted on each, the loose connection between the presser-foot and rod being either in the form of a ball-joint, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, or a pivoted connection, as re resented in Fig. 5.

ach presser-foot'is in the form of a flat plate or block 10, that may with advantage be rectangular in contour, and is there is a universaljoint connection employed a ball 'i is formed or secured upon one side of the foot-plate and loosely secured in a socket connection i, mounted upon the adjacent end of a respectivepusher-rod 9.

As shown in Fig. 5, the presser-foot 10 for each pusher-rod 9 may be furnished with a flange lc, that rojects from one side thereof centrally, said flange having a laterallyformed recess m therein, in which the end portion of the respective pusher-rod is seated and centrally pivoted, as at 7c. A sufiiciently wide crevice intervenes the side and end edges of a pusher-bar end and the corresponding side Walls of the recess it occupies to permit a slight rocking movement of each presser-foot on its pivot k.

Upon the outer faces of the presser-feet 10 and also on the normally upright edges of the bracket-legs 9 pliable facings of felt, rubher, or other suitable material are secured, these slightly-yielding facings serving to prevent any injurious contact of the presserfeet and bracket-legs with the woodwork of a window whereon the improved shelf is mounted and secured, and it may here be explained that if desired the improved shelf may be arranged in tiers on a room-wall between pilasters thereon or between the stiles of a door-frame.

In placing the improvement at a window, for example, the portion 6 is passed into the s ace between the stiles of a window whereat the improvement is to be secured, which will dispose the resser-feet 10 close to the stiles and the portion 6 of the shelf between the stiles and, if desired, close to the windowsill in a horizontal position. The turnbuckle 9 is now rotated. in a proper direction for a projection of the pusher-rods 9 from each other, which will cause the presser-fcet 10 to impinge upon corresponding stiles of the window-casement and secure the shelf-board upon the casement of the window, the slight vielding or rocking of the presser-feet enabling them to have proper bearing thereon.

Obviously the pusher-rods 9 and presserfeet 10 thereon enable the attachment of the improved shelf upon windows that are of different widths between the stiles of their casements.

When the shelf is being secured. in place on a window-casement, it is necessary for its proper support that the vertical edges of the bracket-legs 7 have contact with the inner sides of the casement-stiles, which, if the latter are sufficiently spaced from the windowsash, will occur when these edges of the bracket-legs are flush with the longitudinal edges of the notches a in the edge of the shelf-board.

Should the space between the inner side surface of the stiles or usual face-molding on .the casement of the window and the inner surface of the window-sash be less in measure than the depth of the notches a in the shelfboard 6, the bracket-legs 7 must be corresp ondingly adjusted for contact with said side faces on the easement when the shelf is placed thereon. To this end the finger-hold portions 8 are pulled downward, as is indicated by a broken line in Fig. 3, which will remove the toes g from the perforations c in the strips b, and thus enable the bracket-legs 7 to be slid in the grooves they occupy and have contact with the window casement, whereupon the release of the finger-holds 8 will permit the resilience of the locking-dogs 8 to enforce an entrance of the toes g into the perforations b opposite which they may be disposed, which will lock the bracket-legs in place on the shelf-board at points which will permit the legs to have contact with the window-casement for the support of the shelf at its inner edge.

It will be noted that either construction of the presser-feet 10 and their loose connection with the pusher-rods 9 enable the presser-feet to accommodate their impinging faces to portions of the window-casement with which they have contact, and this will insure a complete bearing of said feet for the proper support of the shelf-board.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a device of the character described, the-combination with a shelf-board provided at each end with a series of transverse perforations, brackets arranged transversely of the shelf ends each provided with a perforation adapted to register with a perforation of the series, means for retaining the brackets in engagement with the shelf-board and spring-latches for engaging the registering perforations.

2. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a shelf-board provided at each end with transverse grooves having in the bottom thereof a plurality of perforations, brackets slidably mounted in the grooves and provided with a perforation adapted to register with the perforations of the groove, a spring-latch for engaging the registering perforations, and means for securing the boardto a window-casement.

3., In a device of the character described, the combination with a shelf-board, and, means for securing said board on a windowcasement, of a bracket-leg'for the support of each end of the shelf-board, and means for detachably securing each of said bracket-legs on the shelf-board, said devices each comprising a transverse flat-bottomed groove in the shelf-board near an endthereof, a metal lining-strip embedded in the oove, and having a plurality of longitudinal y-arranged perforations therein, a flange-plate mounted on an edge of the bracket-leg and seated in the groove upon the lining-strip, and a resilient latching device having a toe Working in a perforation in the flange-plate and engaging an opposite perforation in the liningstri Iii testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presenccof two subscribing witnesses.

BYRON J. WHITCOMB. 

